


Mara's Surprise Birthday Jambaroo

by murundelnys666



Series: I Write Shorts, Not Trilogies [1]
Category: Trials and Trebuchets (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:41:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27700862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murundelnys666/pseuds/murundelnys666
Summary: It's November 24th, which means it's time for Mara Artisan's birthday! Can the gang get together and make the night special for Mara?(Note: Should be read after reading the Trials & Tragedies trilogy, specifically Wake Me Up When Trebuchets End)
Series: I Write Shorts, Not Trilogies [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2025872
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	1. doing some redecorating

**Author's Note:**

> AN: happy birthday IWTNT!! Hard to believe it’s been a year, wow!!

“Hmm.” Artis scrunched up his face. “I don’t know.” 

Veronica huffed. “What do you MEAN you don’t know??” 

“I mean I don’t know.” He squinted his eyes even more, resting his head upon his missing fingered hand. “Which color do you think looks better for a banner? Pink or blue?” 

Veronica rolled her eyes and dropped down on the couch of the Artisans’ home. “I mean, she’s YOUR daughter. Shouldn’t you be able to decide this?” 

“I’m… I’m out of my element…” He rubbed his temples, worryingly. He looked up at the pink banner that spelled out HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARA in golden glittery letters. “Usually Fidan would be in charge of this stuff.” 

“Where is your wife anyway?” Veronica took a candy out of the bowl on the coffee table and placed it in her mouth, throwing the wrapper away in the barely fixed hole in the wall behind her. 

“Integrity decided to take her to the vampire salon for a ‘girl’s day’ or something like that. I don’t know. Can we see how it looks in blue?” 

Veronica was reaching for another candy when she sighed, snapped her fingers and the banner changed colors to blue. “There. How’s that look?” 

“It’s good. Or is it? I don’t know. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.” He sat down on his wicker recliner and rubbed his temples. 

Veronica put down her fourth candy piece and scooted near the man. “Hey, uh, buddy. You, uh… you doing alright?” 

He crossed his arms. “It’s nothing. It’s fine.” 

“You’re a shitty fucking liar, dude.” 

“Ugh.” He took a candy that Veronica offered him and placed it in his mouth. “I’m just… nervous, is all.”

“Nervous? About what?”

“I…. haven’t seen Mara in months since she started school. This is her first time back and I wasn’t necessarily… enthusiastic about her leaving anyway given what she experienced months before that and she’s never really had a true birthday party before and I can’t believe she’s turning 15 already because it feels like just yesterday I was in the shed making her crib and… honestly I…” He sighed. “I want to make sure she’s… happy. And that everything is perfect.” 

Veronica stayed silent. She kinda figured it was something like this. She didn’t have to read minds to tell that Artis Artisan was a man of many anxieties, someone who wanted nothing more than the happiness of his loved ones. Which was great. 

Except for when it meant she had to make a trip across universes to do party planning for someone she had only really known for, like, five minutes (not counting the other five minutes she spent with Pirate Artis when she was disguised as Delnys). 

“Yo, Goth Dad.” Veronica stood up from her chair. “Mind if I step outside to smoke?” 

“Hm?” He seemed taken out of his headspace. “Um, yes. Of course I don’t mind. Back door to the cave is that way.” 

Veronica absentmindedly wondered why the fuck a cave would have a back door. But whatever. She walked out of it to see a nice little apple tree yard, with lots of little plants and assorted things around. She wondered if that’s what Artis ate. Did Artis eat? She took out her notebook, flipped away from her list and wrote down, “do all humans need to eat? Or is Artis not human?”

She put the notebook back into her bag and materialized a pack of cigarettes and made some fire poof out from her finger as she then stuck the cigarette in her mouth and took a long drag. Mira once said smoking was bad for your lungs. Did smoking hurt Veronica’s lungs? She wasn’t quite sure. 

She inspected the outside more. There was a nice flower bed, a nice patio table and the aforementioned group of trees. As she got closer to the three apple trees, she noticed names etched into each of the bark: Dain, Teb, Elrich. 

“Ew. Really?” Veronica sneered seeing the last two names. 

“You have a problem, Ms. Elm Rune?” said Artis’ low voice from behind her. 

Veronica jumped, caught off guard, and almost dropped her cigarette. “No. I mean, it’s just… I dunno who Dain is but Teb and Elrich were fucking assholes. Why do you want their names in your backyard?”

Artis paused and looked at the names with a bit of sadness. “While it’s true I cannot condone the later actions they engaged in, I can still mourn the versions of them I grew up with. Not the ones who passed away recently. But the friends I lost in the past.” 

Veronica was silent for a moment. “That’s… a good point.” While Artis wasn’t looking, Veronica took her notebook out and flipped to her list. She wrote down another bullet point: _stop Dain from dying._

Suddenly they heard sounds coming from inside the cave. “Honey, we’re home!” Fidan’s voice echoed. 

“Ah.” Artis turned to Veronica. “Ready to get back to it?”

“I fuckin guess so.” She put her notebook away and followed after the man, opening up the back door and heading into the cave, where the orange skinned tiefling girl known as Integrity was standing and next to her was… Fidan, but… different?”

“Um.” Artis’ mouth hung open a bit, his eyes fixated on his wife’s face. “Did you, uh… did you do something to your hair?”

Fidan blinked her red eyes and ran one of her long nailed hands through her now shoulder length, auburn hair. She smiled. “Do you like it? Integrity convinced me to do something a bit different.” 

“I was getting a bit confused trying to figure out who’s who whenever I was talking to y’all…” Integrity said in a muted voice. 

Artis ignored her. “Um. I mean. It’s a lot. To get used to. But. I believe. It looks. Good. Yes.” He gulped. 

Fidan grinned and looked behind Artis’ shoulder, where the tan skinned brunette girl was. “Ah, Veronica. Pleasant surprise. Haven’t seen you since…”

“The fight? Yeah.” Veronica smiled back. God, hard to believe it had been six months now. Time flies. 

… she could slow it down, if she wanted to…

“Great to have you here helping for the party. Did you make the banner?” Fidan set her stuff down on the kitchen counter. Veronica had to admit her hair looked… meh, she guessed. She wasn’t quite sold on it yet. 

“Well Artis told me how to make the banner. I just, y’know, made it.”

“Well I appreciate you helping out.” Fidan walked over and gave Artis a kiss on the cheek. “Dear, I’m going to go get ready for when Mara gets here. Do you have everything under control?”

He was still staring at her hair. “Um. Yes. Of course.” 

“Good.” Fidan smiled and walked into her private bedroom and shut the door. Veronica let her eyes follow the vampire woman as she left and once she was out of view, her eyes naturally focused on the other vampire woman in the room - mainly because she hadn’t stopped aggressively staring at her. 

“So,” Integrity said, frown on her face. “You’re coming to the party?”

“Uh, yep.”

“And I take it Mira’s coming too?”

“... I believe so.”

“And it’s to my understanding you too are an _item_ now?” 

“I believe you’re understanding correctly for once.” 

“Well in that case.” Integrity walked over, placed her hand on Veronica’s shoulder and whispered in her ear. “If you break her heart, I swear to Gods.” 

“Hey, woah.” Veronica pushed Integrity away. “I get it. This whole protective friend bullshit, plus the bad blood between us-“

“You shot me and killed me.”

“Yes, well, I get it. But…” Veronica pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I love her. Really. And I’m not going to do anything to hurt her.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Integrity kept giving Mira the stink eye before holding up two fingers and pointing them at her own eyes and then Veronica’s, an act that Veronica assumed meant she wouldn’t be let off the hook for this anytime soon.

At the very least, Artis seemed to acknowledge the tension in the room as he coughed awkwardly. “Ahem. Veronica, if you don’t mind, perhaps we can get back to preparing the party list.” 

  
“Right, sure,” Veronica said as she sat her bag down, grabbed another piece of candy, and prepared to make some more streamers or some shit, she wasn’t quite sure. 


	2. get this party started

Raven adjusted her hair and outfit. She was nervous? Why was she nervous? She shouldn’t be nervous. It wasn’t cool to be nervous. Being nervous was fucking lame. But fuck was she nervous. Fuck fuck fuck. 

Whatever. She knocked on the door to see a… kind of familiar face, except with two eyes and… something else was different. Her hair? It was… orange now?? And short? It was…. weeeird. She had a wide smile on her face which dropped a bit when she noticed who it actually was at the door. “Oh, Raven. It’s you. Glad you could make it.” 

“Oh hey, Non Pirate Fidan! Glad I could come!!” Raven dusted off her high heel boots on the welcome mat. “Thanks for inviting me! To be honest, I didn’t really expect to be invited.” 

“Well, that’s because you weren’t.” Fidan scooted aside to let Raven come in. “But when we called Mara and told her about the surprise party, she insisted you be invited.” 

“Well tell her I said thanks for me!” Raven saluted as she walked into the cave house. A light green banner that said HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARA hung up above everyone, streamers falling down like drapes and balloons attached to the wall. It was pretty neat. “The cave looks nice! Did you decorate it yourself?” 

“Uh, no. Artis commissioned Veronica to do it.” 

Raven paused. “Oh. Veronica is here?” 

“... yes?” 

“Ah.” 

There was an awkward silence. 

“I can take you to her, if you want.” 

“I mean i guess if you want to if it won’t be awkward i mean i haven’t talked to everyone in a while and” 

Before Raven could finish her rambling, Fidan took her hand and guided her over to a small area in the kitchen, where Veronica and Mira were standing next to each other, holding red solo cups while Winsler, holding Mr. Wiggles, talked to them. 

“So Mira,” Winsler said. “I heard that y’all just finished the first part of making your house. How’s that all going?” 

“Oh! It’s going well! I mean, you think you’re done but you’re never really done, right?” Mira laughed. “But yeah, Phase 2 seems pretty promising so far! Different, but promising. It’s still pretty early in development, so I don’t know if we’ll be ready to show it to other people any time soon or if it’ll ever be shown to anyone else, to be honest. But there are a lot of new exciting ideas we can’t wait to do things with.” 

“That’s cool!” Winsler smiled and handed another glass of beer to Mr. Wiggles. “So what all does phase 2 entail?” 

“Decorating mainly!” Mira wrapped her arm around Veronica’s waist. “She does most of the work in that department.” 

Veronica shrugged. “Not really. I just make things appear. I don’t know what I’m doing.” 

“Didn’t you decorate this place?” Raven asked as she walked up. 

  
Veronica was caught off guard for a moment, not expecting to see the goth girl show up, but regained her composure. “Yeah but I have no idea what the fuck a birthday party is. Good to see you, Blood Charm.” 

“Hey uhhh good to see you too!” Raven mumbled. “You, uh… whatcha drinkin?” 

“Vodka and whiskey. Want some?” 

“Um, no. I prefer something a bit lighter.” 

“Ah.” Veronica said as she waggled her finger and a glass of vodka and wine appeared in Raven’s hand.    
  


She took a sip and smacked her lips a bit. “Um, thanks. What were you talking about?” 

“Just the new house they got!” Winsler smiled at Raven happily. 

“Oh! That’s so fucking cool!” Raven said. “When can I check it out?” 

“We’re actually not letting other people see it right now until it’s done,” Mira chimed in, coldly. 

“Oh. Can I see it when it’s done?” 

Mira huffed up. “Maybe.”

“Cool! Looking forward to it!” 

Mira turned and looked towards Fidan. “Oh, hey. Did you do something to your hair?” 

“Yeah! I recolored it.You like?” 

Mira and Winsler looked at each other and kinda shrugged. “Iiiiiiit’s… nice.” 

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Fidan put her finger to her mouth and everyone shushed themselves. She cautiously but excitedly walked towards the front door, opening it to see the guest of honor arrive. 


	3. the guest of honor arrives

Mara wasn’t necessarily surprised to see everyone there at her surprise party. Her parents had warned her about it weeks ago. But it was still… a sight to see. The cave rarely ever got visitors, especially not this many. A part of her wanted to smile but… she didn’t. 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” everyone yelled out in unison. 

She just grabbed her silver necklace and gave an awkward chuckle. “Um, thanks! But, uh… it’s not my birthday yet! We still have a few more hours left to go.” 

She saw her mom. Well, she looked like her mom, but something was different. Her hair! Fidan wrapped her in a hug. “Great to see you, honey!” 

“Hi mom!” Mara returned her hug and then looked up at her. “Your… your hair!” 

“You like?” Fidan smiled. 

“Yeah! It looks really nice!” Mara gave her another hug and Fidan held her tight. If it wasn’t for Artis coming by, Fidan might not have let go. Mara released her hold from her mom just in time for her father to wrap his arms around her and hold her tight. 

“I missed you so much,” he said. As he released his grip, he examined his daughter’s face. Mainly the scar on it. It had worried him greatly when she had gotten it half a year before and that worry hadn’t minimized any. Still, it looked… slightly lighter. Her whole face looked… different? Was it just an aging thing or…? “Mara, are you wearing make up?” 

“Just a bit…” she said, originally smiling but then blushing awkwardly. “It’s…. Okay, right?” 

“Ah. Um. Yes. Of course.” Artis walked over and grabbed a solo cup off the table and filled it with punch and then drank it. Taking his lead, Fidan went and grabbed a cup and filled it with another red liquid at the table and handed it to Mara. 

“Here you go, honey. Fresh blood, procured this morning from local sources.” 

“Thank you…” Mara said, her voice trailing off. She moved her eyes towards everyone else, who was still staring at her. “Um. I’ve never had a birthday party before. Are you all going to be looking at me the whole time? Is this how this works?” 

There was a bit of silence before everyone kind of awkwardly turned around and began murmuring to herself. Mara was grateful. She took another sip of blood before turning to her mom. “Um, can I put my stuff down in my room? Or is it off limits?” 

“Of course you can! We made sure nobody went in it for a reason.” Fidan then looked a little worried. “You’re staying for the full weekend, right?” 

“Yeah! Um, I think. Unless something comes up.” 

“What would come up?” 

“Nothing!” 

“Is it nothing or is it something?” Fidan squinted her eyes. 

“It’s nothing! I’ll be staying all weekend!” Mara quickly rushed over to her room, backpack strung around her shoulders. 

Fidan turned to her husband. “Something’s up with her.” 

“Yeah. When did she start wearing makeup?” 

“No, no. It’s not that. Something is on her mind. Or something’s wrong. I don’t know.” 

“Yes. I’m… worried about that too.” 

Mara, meanwhile, had entered her room and set her backpack down on her bed. It was… odd, being back. Her room looked so barren now. It wasn’t like her dorm room. That had lots of posters and decorations and plants and Reichenbach. It felt more… lived in, despite her only being there for a few months. But whatever. She went ahead and slipped off her jacket, leaving her in just her short sleeved shirt (perhaps too short. She kept tugging at the sleeves to pull them down) and opened up her dresser to put it away. But as she did, someone jumped out of the wardrobe and wrapped arms around her. Mara was going to get mad before she realized who it was. 

“Aha!” Integrity yelled. “Surprise!” 

“Sis!” Mara’s face glowed up and she hugged her back. “How’d you get in there??” 

“A rogue never reveals her secrets.” Integrity grinned devilishly. “Happy birthday, sis! What are you now? 15?” 

“Well, not yet.” Mara sat her stuff off the bed and picked up her cup of blood again. “We still have a few more hours until midnight.” 

  
“Well still! That’s cool as hell! C’mon, we got a lot of catching up to do! I’m sure everyone wants to hear about what exciting adventures you’ve been on!” Integrity grabbed Mara’s hand and pushed her out of the room, back into the crowd of people. 


	4. contest of champions

“Raven, this is so fucking stupid.” 

“No no!” Raven exclaimed, taking another sip of her wineka. “It’s a good idea!” 

“It’s a terrible idea!” Veronica yelled. 

“How is it a terrible idea?” Winsler said, sitting on the counter, sipping his White Claw. 

“Because it’s a fucking waste of my talent and time and I.. I don’t even know what a chicken nugget is?”

“It’s like chicken but in nugget form!” Raven gave a slight tiny belch. “It’s simple, really. You just make a shit ton of nuggets and then see how much you can eat in one hour.” 

“Raven, I’ll have you know that you’ve suggested a lot of dumb shit but this might be the dumbest.”

Raven just ignored Veronica, pulling up the web browser on her iPhone instead. She closed the tab Artis had her look up earlier, a simple google search on “ _ when is it okay for your daughter to start wearing makeup _ ” and went to do another search. “It says here on this heterosexual body building message board that the world record is 93 chicken nuggets in one hour.” 

“Okay? So?” Veronica finished her glass of whiskey and vodka. 

Raven looked up from her phone with a grin. “I can eat 94.”

Veronica paused. “No you can’t.”

“Fucking watch me.”

“You’re doing that thing? Where you think you’re better than you actually are? And it’s not cute?”

“Nahhh I got this, Veronica.”

Veronica rolled her eyes and thought of what chicken nuggets would look like and then snapped her fingers. As she did, a huge plate of them appeared in front of Raven as well as a kitchen timer. Veronica wiggled her fingers and the timer set to one hour. “Alright. Let’s see you fucking try, Blood Charm.” 


	5. school rules

“So, Mara!” Integrity said as she slammed herself down on Artis’ wicker recliner. “Tell me! How’s school going?”

Mara almost spit out her drink. “Um, y’know, I mean… good. I guess.”

“Yeah? Making lots of new friends? Studying hard? Getting into trouble?”

“Trouble, haha, no! Not really!” Mara faked a chuckle, pulling at her collar. God she was nervous. So so nervous. She was glad she had this whole sofa to herself, otherwise they might feel how hard she was shaking. 

“I take it you’re doing well in your classes?” Artis asked, standing across from the sofa, anxiously munching on pretzels. Fidan took a seat by Mara, sitting on the edge of the couch. 

“Um, yeah! Trying my best!” Mara gave a reluctant smile. Was this working?”

“That’s all we can ask of you.” Fidan ruffled her hair. 

“Where’s Serinepth?” Integrity asked. “I was hoping we’d get to catch up.”

“Um. Headmistress Sinderman said she would love to come but considering her role in administration, it wouldn’t be ethical to attend one student’s private birthday party.”

“Sounds like bullshit but okay.” Integrity shrugged. 

Suddenly a tall rock figure wearing a red tie walked up. His hands were shaky as he held a paper. The presence of the tall elemental would've made Mara scared if it didn’t seem like he was more afraid of her. He coughed. “Um. You’re the birthday girl, right?”

“Oh! Where are our manners?” Fidan stood up next to the tall rock man. “This is someone who has been working with us recently. His name is Rock Jerry.”

“Rock Jerry?” Mara asked. 

Rock Jerry just nodded. “Uh. Yeah.” 

“I see. Well, pleasure to meet you, Rock Jerry!”

“Uhhh it’s nice to meet you as well. Um. I made this gift for you.”

He handed her the piece of paper. It appeared to be a bunch of numbers and some weird spreadsheet about fiscal losses and revenue and credit loan interest rates. “Um. Is it a financial report?”

“Oh, uh, no. I was just out of paper so I had to use some from my old job. Flip it around.”

“Oh.” Mara flipped the paper to see a crayon drawing of a tall rock man holding hands with a pointy eared stick figure. 

“It’s a… drawing of me making peace with the elves,” Rock Jerry said, under his breath. 

“Um. Thank you. This is very nice! I appreciate it!” Mara felt a little awkward but smiled warmly. Eventually Rock Jerry stumbled away, leaving the Artisans and the Idleberry back in their own corner. 

“So!” Integrity leaned forward. “Have you gotten a mentor yet?”

“Uh, um yeah. We have.”

Artis looked at her with sharp eyes. “I hope he’s been responsible. And treating you well.” 

Mara huffed and leaned back. “Mr. Bonzalez is… interesting. Nice! And cool! But… interesting. Unconventional.”

“You should’ve been a mentor!” Integrity turned to Artis. “You would be so good at it!”

“Absolutely not,” Artis responded coldly. 

“Been getting along with your group mates?” Fidan said, hoping to change the subject into something less divisive or upsetting. 

It didn’t seem to work, though, as Mara stood up. “Um. I think I need to go get some fresh air outside for a bit. If that’s okay.” 

The two parents looked at each other and then Integrity and then Mara before Fidan finally spoke up. “Um, of course dear. Do what you have to.” 

Mara walked out of the room, not even able to look at her parents. 


	6. the dark moon

Mara made her way around the assorted vampires and guests who were flooded in her house. The path to the backyard door led her into the kitchen, where she saw a bunch of discarded plates, dipping sauce packets, and thrown away red solo cups. Also a vampire goth girl, bent over, hands on her stomach. 

“97…” Raven mumbled under her breath. “I was able to get 97 and what does she do? She eats 98. She didn’t even… hit her threshold… she stopped at 98 on purpose…”

Mara was just going to walk around and go outside but it wasn’t long before Raven, who stunk of what Mara had learned from school as “alcohol,” spotted her. 

“Mara!! Omg!! Hey!! I’ve been looking for you!!” Raven stood up, wobbling on her heels and held Mara up in a bear hug. “Happy Birthday!! It’s really cool that we have the same birthday, huh?? November 24th?? Good job on making a cool birth date!” 

“Uh… thanks?” Mara said, feeling super super awkward. 

“No problem! Oh!! That’s right!!” Raven reached into her bag and pulled out a small box, wrapped in black paper with pictures of gravestones on it. “Here’s your gift!”

“Oh cool! Uh, thanks.” Mara was going to save opening it for later but Raven looked at her with anticipatory red eyes. She had no choice but to unwrap it now. She broke off a piece of the tape and began peeling off the paper covering, bit by bit, until it was all gone. Soon she was just holding a box with a picture of some glass rectangle thing. “... what is it?”

“My iPhone 11!” Raven smiled. “I don’t need it anymore since I got the 12 so I figured, well, why not pass it on to someone who can use it?”

“Oh, uh… thanks?”

“No problem!!” Raven looked at the phone box. “Y’know, that thing has been with me for a lot of adventures. It was kind of hard letting go. But maybe it’s time for it to finish its time with Raven and start a new journey with Mara.” 

Mara was just silent for a few moments, not sure of what to say. “Um. I’ll take good care of it.” 

“I know you will.” Raven gave a comforting grin before squinting her eyes. She ran a long fingernail along Mara’s chin. “Oh gosh. You still have that scar from when she blasted you, don’t you? So do I.” She drunkenly giggled and pointed to her midsection. “Wild as hell, isn’t it? Like who taught Seltie how to eldritch blast? Plus all that ‘oh I was supposed to ascend’ crap like goddddd what a drama queen.”

That last part raised an exclamation mark in Mara’s head. 

“Um, excuse me,” she said, backing away from Raven. “I need to get some air outside.”

“No problem, little dude!” Raven said as she gave the lesbian salute. 

Mara opened the door and stepped outside. She thought of what Raven had just said. She thought of school. She thought of her parents. She thought of… everything that had happened. 

And she put her hand over her mouth so she wouldn’t wake up anybody. And she screamed. 

It barely made a noise but it sure did feel good. She was glad nobody noticed. Or at least, she thought nobody did. 

“Somebody’s a bit frustrated.”

Mara turned to see that brunette girl - Veronica, she thought her name was - leaning against her cave wall, cigarette in hand. “Oh, uh. Hey. Sorry. Didn’t know anyone was out here. ”

“No worries. I’m just having a smoke break” Veronica took a drag. “What’s got you so tensed up, birthday girl?”

“It’s not my birthday yet, and, well…” Mara looked down at her shoes. “I can’t talk about it.”

“Why not?”

“Well, uh… no offense, but… I don’t… know you all that well?”

“That’s valid. Anyone else you can tell though? I’m sure Integrity would love to hear about it. Or your dad.”

“No. They can’t know. At all.”

“Why not?”

“They’ll… they’ll be worried. They’ll make it weird.” 

Veronica shrugged. “Fair enough.But just know: every secret you keep from a loved one comes out eventually.” 

“I mean, yeah…” Mara huffed. “It’s just… friggin irritating. I wanna be celebrating my birthday, not… dealing with this.” 

“And I wanted to be at home instead of planning a party and now look where I am.” Veronica stomped a cigarette under her shoe and turned to Mara. “It might be better to just get it out now. While you can. Then maybe you can actually start having fun and not having to worry about it.”

“I… maybe. Ugh. Growing up is hard.”

“Tell me about it.” 

Mara looked at the tree yard her father had planted a while ago. Behind the tree, she could see the full moon, shining big and bright in the night sky. “Gosh. That’s pretty. Y’know, I know someone who, if she saw that, would flip her shit.” 

“That’s rad.” Veronica peaked through the blinds and looked inside. “Raven’s passed out drunk, huh? Figures. I’m gonna go find Mira. You should go back inside too.” 

Mara nodded. “Right.” 

Veronica opened the door and Mara followed after. There, she went through the kitchen again, back over to the sofa area, where she poked her dad on the shoulder. 

Artis turned around. “Um, uh. Yes dear? Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah, um… about that…” Mara looked down, twiddling her thumbs. “Can we… talk somewhere quiet?”


	7. secrets

Artis led his daughter back into his personal room and locked the door behind them. Mara took a seat on the bed, grabbing a pillow and clutching it against her chest. 

“So, um…” Why was Artis so nervous? He wasn’t sure. “Is everything… okay? You’ve seemed… off tonight.” 

“Yes!” Mara jumped up but then slouched over. “I mean, it’s okay but… I mean… stuff has… happened and…”

“Is everything okay at school?” Artis interrupted. “You’re not in danger or anything, are you?”

“Huh? No no no! Everything is fine! Everything is good! It’s just…”

“... just?”

“It’s just… well… I’m… dating someone.”

Artis paused. “Oh.”

“Yeah…”

“... I see. Is it… someone from school, I presume?” 

“Yeah! Um. One of my teammates.” Mara gulped. “I think you’d like her! Her name is Neska! She’s really sweet and cool and she trained in a circus and like she’s kinda shy but once you get to know her she’s a lot of fun!” 

Artis was once again at a loss for words. “... I see.” 

“But…” Mara trailed off. 

Artis raised a brow. “But?”

“But…” Mara clutched the pillow tighter. “She’s been a little… distant lately. I don’t know. I keep asking her what’s wrong but she says she doesn’t know and that she feels like she’s acting fine but I think even she’s starting to notice that something’s up and like I really like this girl and I don’t wanna lose her because like you and mom were school sweethearts all the way up until now and like I want that because that sounds like the dream.” 

“... I see.” Artis rubbed his temples. “Has anything happened recently? Anything to make things… difficult between you two?”

Mara fiddled with her shirt nervously. “No? Not that I can think of.”

Artis blew air out of his nose. He thought for a second. “Well, Mara. You’re… a smart girl. You got that from your mother. And I know this might be a lot to deal with since it’s your… first time dealing with… something like this. But if you really care for this Neska girl, and she really cares for you, then I’m sure you two can work it out. And if you can’t, that’s fine too.”

“Yeah?” Mara looked up. 

“Yes.”

“You’re not… mad I’m dating someone, are you?”

Artis breathed in. “It’s… something I’ll have to get used to. But... of course I’m not mad.” 

Mara smiled, threw the pillow to the side and stood up to hug her dad. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” As Artis released her from the hug, he noticed something. Looking up the sleeve of her shirt, he could see a small mark on her left arm. It looked to be a small black spiral, with three blades in an almost circle like form. “Um. Mara. What is that on your arm?”

“Oh? This??”” Mara panicked and pulled her shirt sleeve back down. Her face was redder than her father had ever seen before. “Uhh just a fun little temporary tattoo thing. My friend Artemi was doing them and asked if I wanted one too. It’s just temporary. No need to worry! At all!” 

Artis wasn’t quite sure if he fully believed her but… after all that had happened to this family, he wasn’t going to get mad at her for one little tattoo. “Just so long as it’s temporary. Don’t want you making big life choices you regret later.”

“Haha, yeah…” Mara’s voice trailed off. “Can we, uh… join the others?” 

Artis gave her a light smile. “Of course.”


	8. countdown

Mara had just finished catching up Integrity on what she had told her father. Integrity, for what it was worth, listened to every story beat with earnest glee. 

“How did y’all meet? What is she like? Is she cool? When did y’all start dating officially? Did you have your first kiss yet? Is this friends to lovers or enemies to lovers??”

Mara tried her best to answer as much as she could, as truthfully as she could, until she ran out of info she felt comfortable giving out. 

Integrity sat back. “Well, she sounds pretty nice! I’m happy for you! Although…” Integrity held up a claw. “If she does anything to hurt you, I swear to god that this Neska girl will fear the day she runs into Integrity Idleberry.”

“Haha thanks, sis but uhhh I don’t think killing Neska will be necessary.” Mara nervously laughed. 

“What’s this about a Neska?” Mira asked, her right arm wrapped around Veronica’s waist. 

“Uhhh nothing!” Mara said, nervous sweat going down her face. 

Thankfully her mother came in the room to save her from the awkwardness of this whole affair. “Mara! It’s almost time! Get in here!”

“Oh!!” She hopped out of her seat. “Coming!”

As Mara ran out of the room, Mira turned to Veronica. “So you really ate that much in an hour?”

“Yeah?”

“That’s not nearly enough time to eat them all though…”

It was Veronica’s turn to sweat. “Uh I think they’re going to cut the candles soon or whatever it is they do at birthdays, let’s go see!” She grabbed Mira’s hand and led her into the kitchen, where everyone had gathered up. 

On the table was a red blood gelatin cake with 15 candles on top. Fidan looked at Veronica who then snapped her fingers so that the candles were lit. Then they all turned to look at Mara. Mara, meanwhile, was focusing her attention on the clock, waiting for midnight to hit. 

5

4

3

2

Mara blew out of her candles. 

She was now fifteen years old. 

She had the biggest grin on her face as her mom cut the cake (and the second, not-blood cake they had bought for those non vamps in attendance) and distributed them on tiny plates amongst everyone. She took a bite. It was so good!! The best blood food item she’d ever had!

She looked at her friends (and Rock Jerry). Her sister. Her parents. Her family. She was glad they were here. And maybe next year, her partner would be too. That would be nice. 

But until then 

She had a whole new year of exciting possibilities in store. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: thank you for reading!! I hope you enjoyed!! And happy birthday IWTNT!!


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